I started practicing LD techniques since last sunday, doing reality checks from time to time, reading a lot about LD and also tried to meditate. And there's the problem: i don't have a clue about how i should meditate. I tried the breathing meditation that's explained here http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/meditation.html just now. They say i should achieve a quiet state of mind after a while, but i didn't really notice anything after 15 minutes.

I tried the guided meditation yesterday. After a while i started to feel a strange sensation, like my head started buzzing and i felt a strange pressure. It was rather overwhelming, though, so i lost focus. Was this going any where?

I tried the guided meditation yesterday evening. I was sitting upright in my bed with my legs strechted out before me. I couldn't achieve hypnagogic state, but i think i got it for a split second. I felt my head dropping and for a split second i saw my legs in a black and white view. Also, my legs were crossed over in this view, while in reality they weren't. My eyes were closed during this brief moment. Does this resemble hypnagogic state?

During this meditation, i constantly felt my head dropping. Maybe i should do this meditation with a headrest.

I'm having the same problems its really hard for me to focus on anything for to long although during the breathing one my eyes started moving without me doing it the same thing happened while listening to isochronic tones

I often have the same issue, but it seems to be improving, i think it just takes a while for your mind to get used to such a narrow focal point. one thing that I found really helps when doing guided meditation is using some kind of background ambient noise along with isocronic tones. it especially helps if u can link the ambient noise to whatever you're visualizing. To me, thunderstorms are really relaxing, so I found a recording of one to use during meditation and I visualize myself in a field or under a tree watching a thunderstorm in the distance. this can work with anything, i.e. a stream, a waterfall, a forest, just try to find something that suits your visualization and eventually it'll just suck you right in.

I'm a fan of either traditional Vipassana meditation or the non-traditional type of sitting I do in an inner work group (4th Way) that I'm involved in.My descriptions are from my personal experimentations and experience, so it's not all orthodox ways of going about it:

For Vipassana, you begin with the breath. You sit and focus on the direct sensation of breathing without trying to manipulate your breathing in any way. You next begin to focus on being mindful of your direct experience. You whatever experience (inner or outer) arise without pushing it away or manipulating it. I tend to begin with the breath but move quickly to my bodily-emotive experience. Whenever you get lost in thought or imagination, you just point out that you are thinking and return to your experience.

The sittings that I spend more time with is simply to sit in a chair comfortably and return your attention to your bodily sensation and whatever specific sensations are present. You may focus on a specific part of the body, really get into the inner experience of it, or your body/emotive/energetic sensation as a whole.

Focusing is another great technique of inner inquiry to try.

I tend to go for meditative techniques that are not so much guided imagery myself, as I'm drawn more towards contemplation of body and emotive experience.

I also recommend what we call in my group: Self Observation. This is where you sort of bring mindfulness into your everyday life. Throughout the day you split your attention between what you're outwardly doing, and your inner sensation of things. You become interested in every behavior, habit, feeling, bodily sensation, energetic state or mental fixation you find that arises. This way you begin to be aware of yourself throughout whichever experience you find yourself in and this may eventually generalize to dreams. See the Gurdjieff Work, or the 4th Way for more.

kanaloa wrote:For Vipassana, you begin with the breath. You sit and focus on the direct sensation of breathing without trying to manipulate your breathing in any way. You next begin to focus on being mindful of your direct experience. You whatever experience (inner or outer) arise without pushing it away or manipulating it. I tend to begin with the breath but move quickly to my bodily-emotive experience. Whenever you get lost in thought or imagination, you just point out that you are thinking and return to your experience.

thank you for replying, but i'm not sure i quite understand what you mean by this?

Don't aim for hypnogogic imagery when you're just learning to meditate.

It doesn't matter what "technique/method" you use, meditation is about two things... 1. Learning to focus upon something2. Learning to hold that focus for extended periods of time

Start small... work on #1 first. Pick whatever you want. It could be something you visualize, it could be something you hear, it could be an object around which you can stare at... just pick something and focus upon it. Then work on retaining that focus for as long as you can. When you notice you're not focusing on it anymore, just gently nudge your attention back to it.

Eventually, as you practice this... you'll have to nudge yourself less and less.

Do note, however, that for most people (especially westerners) this is something that won't come easy. We're talking MONTHS, if not YEARS of practice before you get good at it.

Sorry bud, but this is a life long venture you're asking about. It's not a "do it one day, experience stuff, then move onto something else" thing... meditation is, quite simply, a way of life.

Practice as often as you can for 15 - 20 minutes a day to start... do that for a month or two, THEN see how you feel after it. Then, after that, ask people if there has been any change in you over the last little while.

Trust me... the end results are more than worth the time investment.

Lemme give you a couple videos to listen to (listen cause they're really just audio videos).The first video here: http://unlimitedboundaries.ca/2012/02/19/adyashanti-true-meditation-series/The other two are good as well.

Then there's:http://unlimitedboundaries.ca/2011/08/16/how-to-meditate-tom-campbell/ <-- this videoAndhttp://unlimitedboundaries.ca/2011/08/22/another-meditation-gem-from-the-mind-of-tom-campbell/ <-- this write up which basically comes directly out of Tom Campbell's book "My Big TOE".